Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The waterfall model is viable for software products that do not change very much once they are specified. But for software products that have their feature sets redefined during development because of user feedback and other factors, the traditional waterfall model is no longer appropriate.- The Evolutionary EVO development model divides the development cycle into smaller, incremental waterfall models in which users are able to get access to theproduct at the end of each cycle.- Feedback is provided by the users on the product for the planning stage of the next cycle and the development team responds, often by changing the product, plans, or process. - These incremental cycles are typically two to four weeks in duration and continue until the product is shipped.

Benefits of Evolutionary Development Model

- Benefit not only business results but marketing and internal operations as well.- Use of EVO brings significant reduction in risk for software projects.- EVO can reduce costs by providing a structured, disciplined avenue for experimentation.- EVO allows the marketing department access to early deliveries, facilitating development of documentation and demonstrations.- Short, frequent EVO cycles have some distinct advantages for internal processes and people considerations.- The cooperation and flexibility required by EVO of each developer results in greater teamwork.- Better fit the product to user needs and market requirements. - Manage project risk with definition of early cycle content. - Uncover key issues early and focus attention appropriately. - Increase the opportunity to hit market windows. - Accelerate sales cycles with early customer exposure. - Increase management visibility of project progress. - Increase product team productivity and motivation.